NEWS
VIEWS
INTERVIEWS
CAMPAIGN TRAIL
ISSUES '98
MANIFESTOS
OVERHEARD
POLLING BOOTH
INDIA SPEAKS!
YEH HAI INDIA
CHAT

Congress decides to fight it out with RJD

The seat-sharing arrangement between the Congress and the ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar has taken a beating with both parties fielding candidates in the same constituencies.

Bihar state Congress president Sarfraz Ahmed and Congress leader in the state legislature Ramashrayay Prasad Singh announced that the party would contest 21 seats. Earlier, RJD supremo Laloo Prasad Yadav had said his party would contest 37 seats, leaving eight to the Congress.

Ahmed said the state unit had urged the Congress high command to contest all 54 seats in the state. So far, 21 candidates have been cleared. The party was selecting its candidates after thorough consideration, he added, and would not hesitate to go all out even where RJD candidates were in the fray.

He said most Congressmen felt the RJD had given them a raw deal -- the party definitely deserved more than eight seats. However, the party would not withdraw support to the Rabri Devi government.

UNI

EARLIER REPORT:
Sonia unhappy over Laloo giving peanuts to Congress in Bihar

Tell us what you think of this report